Natural Design Series: Stones That Literally Grow by Themselves
Mon, Jun 2, 2008
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In the first part of our Natural Design series, Environmental Graffiti reporter Vlad Jecan explores the natural phenomenon of Trovants: stones that literally grow by themselves
Romania may be known as the land of Dracula, heaped with bloodthirsty vampires and other creatures shaped by Hollywood imagination, but it is also a land where nature has had an interesting activity.
Far less known to the world then Dracula, stand an impressive number of stones which quite literally grow by themselves. This may be a great subject for the next Stephen King nove: living stones attacking a group of American scientists, who were trying to investigate the roots of Dracula’s legend. The stones are real and known to mortals as Trovants.
Near a village, just south of central Romania a number of stone formations with alien features lie dormant, witnesses to the passing of time; that is – until it rains. Not long after the last drops of water fall, they begin a multiplication process. Small oval or round blain-like forms appear on the upper part of them. Many people are amazed and even locals are impressed when after heavy rainfall these rock formations begin to ‘live.’ Locals have aptly dubbed them, “growing stones.”
Trovants have a hard stone core but their shells are made of sand, as most examples have been found in sandy regions. Geologists argue that the rocks are the result of a cementation process that occurred millions of years ago in this region and it is somehow accepted that their creation has its roots in the early diagenesis. Scientifically these stones are sandstone concretions and the weird forms are achieved by an irregular secretion of cement.
In 2006 a museum was built to host some of these remarkable pieces. Within the walls and outside of the “Muzeul Trovantilor” (Trovant Museum) in Costesti, a village in the Valcea region, visitors can see various Trovants in different shapes and sizes from small examples to some that are over 10 meters tall.
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3 Trackbacks For This Post
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Hey Trettin - these rocks grow (probably stack themselves too) | JoshNelson.Org Says:
June 3rd, 2008 at 6:37 pm[...] called Trovanti (or something like that). Check ‘em out here and here and [...]
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Bizarro Trash » Blog Archive » As pedras que se reproduzem Says:
June 3rd, 2008 at 8:53 pm[...] Via: Enviromental Grafitti [...]
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Daily Links 11 June 2008 Says:
June 10th, 2008 at 5:14 pm[...] That Literally Grow by Themselves – (Environmental Graffiti) 10 Most Bizarre Species Names – (Oddee) 7 Modern Wonders of Green Technology – (Web Urbanist) [...]
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:19 pm
AMAZING, next to the celtick rocks, this is probably the most amazing rocks there is!.
Does’nt one of the rocks look like a pissed off little dude with his bird!, this is anmiation of what i’m talking about!
June 3rd, 2008 at 7:38 am
Too interesting!!! I live in Romania but it’s the first time i hear about these stones.
June 3rd, 2008 at 4:08 pm
Interesting, I came to see what someone digged as a rock that looks like a alien that was in an old captian kirk star trek episode.
but these rocks are interesting.
June 3rd, 2008 at 5:25 pm
These Trovants look like villains from old-school 1980s Dr. Who episodes.
Cool.
June 3rd, 2008 at 5:26 pm
They’re Gremlin rocks. :)
June 3rd, 2008 at 5:51 pm
What would be interesting is to develop an self enclosed rain chamber and then display them as an art exhibit, and exhibit from city to city, adding also maybe a time lapsed video plasma display to compliment the exhibit.
Just a thought, too much time on my hands I guess, but an interesting story none-the-less.
June 3rd, 2008 at 6:15 pm
Ok, the title is not descriptive. the rocks arn’t growing. they just expand when water is in contact with their cement-like interiors. “Growing” implies that they are gaining mass. but they’re not. They’re just gaining size.
June 3rd, 2008 at 7:11 pm
Sweet zombie jesus..I want one.
June 3rd, 2008 at 9:05 pm
clearly witches are behind this growing rock sorcery.
June 4th, 2008 at 1:43 am
just a better way to express rock therapy … :P
June 4th, 2008 at 2:43 am
That is so weeeird! As a kid I use to pass by those rocks all the time when going to visit my relatives (the “highway” is right by the sight) but I had no idea until today about the weird phenomenon going on at Costesti!
June 4th, 2008 at 5:09 am
Pet rock kicked up a knotch? :)
June 4th, 2008 at 5:11 am
ooohhhoohohohhohhhhh….jeeeeeeeeeeeeezzzzz!!!!..
June 4th, 2008 at 7:55 am
Always wondered what happened to my pet rock after he ran away from home…spoiled little bastard….He broke his mothers heart…..*sigh*…He wasn’t a rock,He was a rock Lobster.
June 4th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
everything grows… everything
June 4th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
Ooooh, I want one! But it rains too much where I live, and in a few years I’m sure the rock would get too big for my yard!
June 4th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
Chia-rocks
June 4th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
What if this could be adapted to boats…self healing boats.
Or perhaps it could be used for self healing aeronautic structures where exposure to air would cause a secretion resulting in self healing flaws.
It isn’t so much about conquering nature. Rather it is about preventing nature from conquering us.
June 4th, 2008 at 8:11 pm
Fa Pu Tss What?
June 4th, 2008 at 10:34 pm
It’s Bush’s fault. Go Obama.
June 5th, 2008 at 12:29 am
20
But self healing with carbonate ? I don´t think so, It could be used as ofensive weapon perhaps…to inmovilizate an armor.
June 5th, 2008 at 1:41 am
verdaderamente increible.
June 5th, 2008 at 3:54 am
As lavender188 said, “Pet rock kicked up a knotch? :)”
I say, hey once you take it home, you can’t take it back. Too big to fit in the car.
June 5th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
Exactly how old are these rocks?
The average rainfall in Romania in June, July and August is 20+ inches per month. After (perhaps) millions (or even billions) of years, shouldn’t the Trovant stones be larger than the earth and the earth appear to be merely a small round shaped that formed on the Trovants.
June 6th, 2008 at 2:40 am
I think you’re right about mass reaching a limit. If this growth process can be explained by some chemical reaction, then the ingredients involved in the reaction would be consumed at some point. And this reaction would stop when the scarcest ingredient present is used up.
June 6th, 2008 at 3:24 am
Nice!
July 5th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
In Portugal, in a village called Arouca, there is a similar event, with a rock called “Pedras Parideiras”, where there a rocks borning from rocks
August 18th, 2008 at 11:42 pm
Love the photos! Not only is it wild that the rocks expand, but in such bizarre shapes. Wonderful.
October 3rd, 2008 at 5:15 pm
you’ve not been to the eastern region of Ghana-West Africa yet. You’ll think this is ordinary. anyways, it looks ok.
December 3rd, 2008 at 7:28 am
Those are amazing! I’d like one as a pet
December 10th, 2009 at 6:28 am
Thank you for another great article. Where else could anybody get that kind of info in such a amazing way of presentation.